Friday, June 25, 2010

Goa Blog

Goa Blog

Sao Joao Celebrated with Great Enthusiasm in Goa

Posted: 25 Jun 2010 08:30 AM PDT

The much awaited traditional Sao Joao festival was celebrated with great enthusiasm and gusto in every village across the state on Thursday, June 24.

The Sao Joao revellers conquered most of the village wells by jumping into it with their decorative crowns (Kopels) on. The revellers were accompanied by the traditional musicians. In addition there was the annual ‘Sangodd’ (traditional boat festival) in front of the St Anthony church in Siolim.

About the festival:

The Sao Joao festival is most pompously celebrated in Goa amongst the Catholic community and is dedicated to St. John the Baptist which is celebrated on 24th June every year. This occasion marks the celebration by the local youth in the Villages of Goa who normally jump into wells according to the existing tradition of Sao Joao festival.

They consume plenty of fruits on this occasion and are virtually unstoppable when they indulge in revelry. Specially in Salcete taluka, different types of folk dances or Mandos are held which are popularly known as Sangodds. Fruits and other eatables are exchanged between friends and relatives.

It is an existing tradition wherein anyone who owns a well and has a girl who is newly married exchanges pleasantries and food items to their in-laws as is the custom in every Goan village. It is a real treat to watch the local youth with crowns of leaves and varied fruits on their heads going out in processions carrying Goan liquor along with them and jumping into wells to have fun. Later, they enjoy a lavish feast of meat and seafood marking the end of the festival. The rainy season is a perfect foil for the Sao Joao festival as most of the people enjoy it more when its raining heavily.

Courtesy: daijiworld

BSNL launches 3G service in Goa

Posted: 25 Jun 2010 07:51 AM PDT

subscribers in Goa's major cities will now be able to make video calls, use high-speed internet connectivity and even watch live TV on their mobile phones. Whether prepaid or postpaid, all they need to do is avail the just-launched 3G service. Launched with much ado in the capital city on Thursday, phase I of the next generation service is being offered in Panaji, Mapusa, Margao, Vasco and Ponda.

Private operators, meanwhile, will be able to offer the service to their customers once they get their licences. This is expected to take at least five months, BSNL officials said. BSNL chief general manager for the Maharashtra-Goa circle, Aloke Kaul said that Goa is the third place to get 3G connectivity in the circle after Pune and Nasik. "The 3G service will bring about a revolution in the business and entertainment sectors in Goa. The internet has already changed the way business functions.

This (3G) will take the business sector to another level," Kaul said, alluding to the high internet speeds of up to 3.6 Mbps that the service offers. Kaul added that 100 of the 110 3G towers planned have already started radiating. Existing BSNL 2G prepaid customers can avail a trial pack by recharging with a special tariff voucher (STV) of Rs 21 or by sending an SMS, 'ACT3G' to 53733 following which Rs 21 will be deducted from their balance and they will be migrated to 3G for a period of 30 days.

These customers can experience video calling, high speed internet, mobile TV, etc at 3G charges while retaining their 2G voice plan. BSNL 2G postpaid customers have to pay an additional Rs 25 per month to avail 3G services over and above their 2G services. The existing 2G postpaid customers can also send an SMS, 'ACT3G' to 53733. They can also approach customer service centers to subscribe to 3G services. As part of the introductory offer, local and national video calls are offered at 30 paise per minute to both prepaid and postpaid customers.

Prepaid customers will get 100 minutes video call, 200 MB data, 1,000 SMS (local) and 1,000 SMS (national) for free usage within 30 days. Postpaid customers will get 50 minutes of local video calls for free. Commenting on BSNL's 2G services, Kaul said, "As far as the towers for the 2G service are concerned, we are lagging behind. Around 256 towers are planned, but only 176 are radiating. Seventy-four towers are still pending. This is a problem we are facing only in Goa where people are opposing the erection of mobile towers fearing that their health will be affected by radiation."

Meanwhile, also present at the launch ceremony were chief minister Digambar Kamat, North Goa MP Sripad Naik, BSNL general manager (Pune) Mohan Lal and general manager (Goa) G R Ravi. Both Kamat and Naik inaugurated the service by making the first 3G video call to each other in the presence of the gathered audience which included TAC members Dr.Ulhas Parab ,Altinho Gomes & others,  Goa Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) president Cesar Menezes and officials from the Indian navy and army.

3G mobile Services will be launch in South Goa at the hands of Shantaram Naik ,Rajya Sabha ,MP on 26th June,2010 at Nanutel,Margao

Wrong to call Goa unsafe tourist destination

Posted: 25 Jun 2010 06:37 AM PDT

The Goa tourism department Friday refuted findings of a survey by a popular tourism portal which dubbed Goa as the second-most unsafe tourist destination in India.

“Goa is one of the safest tourist destinations in India. How can one explain a 45 percent repeat foreign tourist clientele for the state? If we were unsafe, then tourists would have never come here again,” tourism director Swapnil Naik told IANS.

TripAdvisor, a popular tourism portal had in its 2010 survey ranked Goa as the second most unsafe tourism destination in the country after Delhi. The survey which was published in several national dailies Friday, said that out of the total number of travellers who were polled, 67 percent ranked Delhi as the most unsafe tourist destination, followed by Goa at 17 per cent. The survey also ranked the popular Baga beach in Goa, as one of the dirtiest beaches in India.

“It is a contradiction of sorts that despite the huge chunk of repeat tourist clientele, the survey called the state unsafe. I tried to find out the details of the survey but I could not get it on their website. I need to cross-check its authenticity,” Naik said.

“Some days back, the same website had listed Goa as the topmost family destination in the country. If the state is unsafe, than it certainly cannot be the topmost family destination,” he added.

Goa has, in the recent past, been under intense media spotlight after a slew of crime cases were reported in the state against foreign nationals. Around 2.5 million tourists visit Goa annually, out of which half-a-million are foreigners.

Courtesy:India news
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